Slain CHP officer remembered by thousands at memorial

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Office Kenyon Youngstrom was killed during a routine traffic stop on Sept. 14.

A few thousand law enforcement officers, government officials and community members gathered in Vacaville on Thursday morning to say goodbye to California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom, who was fatally shot by a driver during a routine traffic stop last week.

The memorial service for the 37-year-old CHP officer and father of four at Mission Church in Vacaville drew a wide roster of state and local officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The service came after Youngstrom was shot in the head Sept. 4 by 36-year-old Christopher Boone Lacy, the driver of a Jeep Wrangler Youngstrom had stopped on Interstate 680 near Alamo for an obstructed license plate, according to the CHP.

Youngstrom was pronounced dead the next day at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

Carlton was among several speakers at the memorial service.

“Ken, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for always being there for me, and I look forward to seeing you again some day,” he said, receiving a standing ovation.

Youngstrom’s eldest son, Alex, also spoke, talking about his father’s “goofy” antics around the house.

“He went out of his way to make people laugh,” he said. “We’re going to miss him a lot.”

Since the shooting, the officer’s organ and tissue donations have gone to four California residents, including a 52-year-old Bay Area woman who had been waiting for a decade for a transplant and a 29-year-old mother who received Youngstrom’s left kidney and pancreas.